Goals: Dawn is designed to study the conditions and processes of the solar system's earliest epoch by investigating in detail two of the largest protoplanets remaining intact since their formations. The orbiter targeted the giant asteroid Vesta and dwarf planet Ceres, two main asteroid belt worlds that followed very differently evolutionary paths.

Accomplishments: Dawn comprehensively mapped Vesta, revealing an exotic and diverse protoplanet. The findings are helping scientists unlock some of the secrets of how the solar system, including our own Earth, was formed. It is now en route to dwarf planet Ceres.